My sister was brutally raped and murdered by our Kurdish household in Britain’s most infamous honour killing – now we have to change the regulation to make sure it does not occur once more
The sister of a young woman who was brutally raped and murdered by her Iraqi-Kurdish family in Britain’s most notorious honour killing is campaigning for a change in the law to protect other victims of honour-based abuse.
Bekhal Mahmod has been in hiding for two decades after giving evidence against her father and uncle in court after her sister, Banaz Mahmod, 20, was killed in January 2006.
Banaz, from Mitcham, London, was murdered on the orders of father Mahmod Mahmod and uncle Ari Mahmod after she left an abusive arranged marriage and fell in love with another man.
Other family members and friends were recruited to carry out the killing, which saw her raped by three of her cousins before being strangled.
Her body was then stuffed in to a suitcase, which was buried in Handsworth, Birmingham, before it was found three months later.
Banaz’s sister Bekhal, who has been living in witness protection since giving evidence in 2007, is backing a campaign for Banaz’s Law, which would see ‘honour’-based abuse recognised as a statutory aggravating factor in sentencing.
Bekhal had fled the family home in 2002, and her description of the abuse and threats she faced as a result made up a vital part of the police investigation.
She said today that she is still ‘always looking over my shoulder’ and does not feel safe from possible reprisals.
Banaz Mahmod, 20, was murdered in January 2006 in a plot organised by her father and uncle after leaving her arranged marriage and falling in love with another man
Ari Mahmod (pictured), 69, was found guilty in 2007 of murdering Banaz Mahmod at the family home in London
Banaz’s father Mahmod Mahmod (pictured) was also convicted of his daughter’s murder
‘I’m never going to let my guard down,’ she told the Guardian.
‘[Banaz’s murder] will never leave my life. It can take the smallest things, like somebody saying the word Iraq … my head turns instantly, it’s a fear.’
The campaign also has the support of women’s organisation Southall Black Sisters.
Honour-Based Abuse (HBA) covers forced marriages, rapes, beatings, and even familial murders that women, girls or boys are subjected to at the orders of their own families if they are seen to have ‘dishonoured’ their parents, their culture, or their religion.
In the year ending March 2024, 2,755 HBA-related offences (nearly five per day) were recorded by the police in England and Wales.
But survivors and campaigners argue the real numbers are much higher as many victims are too scared to report what has happened to them.
Before her death, Banaz’s husband, who was ten years older than her and who she had been forced to marry as a teenager, repeatedly raped and beat her.
After leaving her husband following two years of marriage, she went to the police on four occasions to report that her family wanted her dead and her uncle had threatened to kill her and her boyfriend.
Other family members and friends were recruited to carry out Banaz’s murder, which saw her raped by three of her cousins before being strangled
Her body was stuffed in a suitcase and taken to Birmingham where it was buried in the back garden of an abandoned house – and found in April 2006 (Pictured: Banaz Mahmod)
Despite giving a detailed account of five named men who had been following and abusing her, officers did not take her claims seriously. After fleeing an attempt to murder her on New Year’s Eve in 2005, one officer even dismissed her as being manipulative and melodramatic.
Three weeks later, Banaz was dead.
After her boyfriend Rahmat Sulemani reported her missing, police finally launched an investigation and eventually found Banaz’s body.
Mr Sulemani took his own life in 2016.
Following the discovery of her body, Banaz’s father, uncle and other relatives and family associates were charged with her murder or for conspiring in it.
In 2007, following a three-month trial at the Old Bailey, her father Mahmod Mahmod was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in prison.
Her uncle Ari Mahmod, 69, was also found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in jail with at least 23 years behind bars.
Her cousin Mohamad Hama also admitted murder and was ordered to serve at least 17 years in prison.
Three years later, Banaz’s cousins Omar Hussain and Mohamad Saleh Ali, who were the ones carrying out the killing, were extradited from Iraq and handed life sentences of 22 years and 21 years respectively after being found guilty of murder.
Her shameless uncle Ali Mahmod has shown no regret for the killing, and even tried to sue ITV in London’s High Court over a 2020 drama called Honour, starring Keeley Hawes, and a 2012 documentary on the killing.
Representing himself in court, Mahmod said honour-based murder is ‘normal’ in his Iraqi Muslim culture, and said it was the accusation of rape that would damage his reputation.
Banaz’s shameless uncle later tried to sue ITV over two programmes – a 2012 documentary and a 2020 drama (pictured) – about her rape and murder – the case was thrown out by a judge
Speaking through an interpreter, he said: ‘In my country murder is normal – after served time you have a new opportunity.
‘In my culture the main things they react against me was the rape allegation.’
He also complained that he had been attacked in jail and that his family had been subject to reprisals.
Mahmod sued ITV for £400,000 but his claim was thrown out by a judge for having ‘no basis’ and ‘no realistic prospect of success’.
Author Dame Jasvinder Sanghera has previously told how she was promised in marriage to a stranger when she was just eight years old.
She is now a campaigner on honour-based abuse and has set up a charity, Karam Nirvana, which runs a national helpline for victims and helps train professionals to recognise and stop it.
She told the Daily Mail last month: ‘It is a sad indictment when you have professionals who are very worried about upsetting cultural ties and being called a racist, which I’ve seen in my time.
‘I’m someone who has had to educate them to look at this as abuse and a part of culture – all you’re doing is giving the perpetrators more power by not doing so.’
She continued: ‘In a conversation about ethnicity and grooming gangs, all I could see was denial and deflection.
‘Likewise, the demographic of the communities where HBA is happening IS significant – and I’m not surprised by the statistics.
‘Cities like Birmingham, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Luton, where you have very settled communities of Somalians, Pakistanis, Indians, even Ukrainians now – arranged marriages are deemed a tradition.
‘But that is where the line is crossed: when a young person is saying “mum and dad I don’t want this” but are forced to go through with it because their parents are trying to protect the tradition.’
Southall Black Sisters has been contacted for comment.
